Men’s basketball: Bonnies have been bounceback kings this season

There are so many sports cliches, including a fair amount used after losses. One phrase fans love to use after watching a defeat is, “We’ll get ’em next time.”

Most cliches are tired and overused, but for the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team this season, “We’ll get ’em next time,” has actually been an accurate statement. After all, the Bonnies are 7-1 following a loss this season, the lone losing streak coming in November with losses to Florida and Little Rock.

Coach Mark Schmidt’s team has fallen, but it hasn’t stayed down for long.

Sure, the Bonnies have been inconsistent, trading wins and losses since the last week of January. But in the games after a loss in conference play, they’ve won by a margin of 14 points, including last night’s 18-point thrashing of a La Salle team it was similar to in nearly every metric entering the game.

SBU is hoping to avoid needing to rebound after losses in the last five games of the regular season, but its ability to do so has kept it in the race for a double-bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Other A-10 teams haven’t been as fortunate this year; Bona, Dayton and George Mason are the only ones who haven’t suffered back-to-back conference defeats.

Here’s a look at Bonaventure’s record after a loss since Andrew Nicholson’s freshman year: